Spicy Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Creamy Cilantro Lime Salsa

Quick, easy, and delicious grilled shrimp tacos with a hint of spice served with a light, creamy sauce packed with fresh flavors.

Cabbage, cilantro, onion, garlic, lime, and jalapeño.

I often joke that Little Dude is made up primarily of four things: Rice Crispy treats, spicy shrimp tacos, Strawberry Sour Punch Straws, and hot chocolate with whipped cream. These are the foods I craved most often while I was pregnant with him (I clearly could've eaten better... whoops). I used to work near a Wahoo's Fish Taco and got addicted to their spicy shrimp tacos. They were relatively cheap, relatively healthy, and so good that I still crave them (the nearest location is now hours away, sad face). When I saw that large shrimp were on sale for $5/lb at Safeway recently, I knew we had try our hand at spicy shrimp tacos. My favorite condiment at Wahoo's is their green sauce and I decided any shrimp tacos we made wouldn't be complete without something like it.

Creamy cilantro lime salsa.

My extensive Googling revealed many copycat recipes floating around on the interwebs, but nothing official so we decided to make our own Wahoo's-inspired sauce. Is it the same? No. Does it hit the spot as a light and fresh taco condiment? Absolutely! As soon as we were satisfied with our sauce, we stuck it in the fridge to meld until Taco Time. Next, we needed to figure out how to season the shrimp.

Chili powder, cumin, cayenne, S & P.

Inspired by Pinterest, we have been making our own taco seasoning for quite awhile, so we knew where to start. We also knew that, unlike the ground beef in our gringo tacos, shrimp need only light seasoning. We made some educated guesses about proportions of dried seasonings, added a bit of fresh garlic and olive oil and then we were in business. We mixed the marinade with the shrimp a few hours before we started the grill, but this isn't necessary at all. That means this qualifies as a weeknight recipe in my book, score! We served the tacos with soft tortillas (corn for me, wheat for the hubs), shredded cabbage, lime wedges, shredded cheese (optional, but that's how Wahoo's does it), our cilantro lime sauce, and some chili garlic sauce for a little extra heat. We also grilled some corn on the cob to serve on the side, we'll put together a step-by-step post for that soon.

Spicy grilled shrimp tacos with creamy cilantro lime salsa.
Hub's picture on a wheat tortilla came out better than mine 😊

We took pictures of the final product as quickly as we could and then devoured the tacos. The recipe was an absolute hit and one we will return to again and again (especially while I'm still pregnant with Littler Dude).

Spicy Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Creamy Cilantro Lime Salsa

by Smoke & Vanilla


We prepare about ½ pound of shrimp per adult (~20 large shrimp or ~12 jumbo shrimp). This makes about four generous tacos per person. However, this recipe can easily serve up to 4 adults.

Yield: 2-4 servings
Prep time: 00:20
Cook time: 00:05
Total time: 00:30

Ingredients:
For the creamy cilantro lime salsa:
¼c mayonnaise
½ bunch cilantro
1 jalapeño, seeds removed
½ lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

For the shrimp:
¼c olive oil
1t cumin
1T chili powder
¼t ground cayenne
1t salt
½t pepper
3 cloves garlic, diced (about 1T)
1lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

For the tacos:
Corn or flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
Shredded cabbage
Chili garlic sauce
and/or your favorite taco toppings

Instructions:
For the creamy cilantro lime salsa:

1. Place all ingredients into food processor and pulse until desired consistency is achieved.
2. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
3. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to eat.

For the shrimp:

1. Place all ingredients into gallon size zip top plastic bag and refrigerate until you're ready to grill.
2. Prepare grill. Go here for tips on how to start a charcoal grill.
3. While the grill is heating, place shrimp on skewers.
4. Grill shrimp over direct heat, 2-3 minutes per side until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink.

For the tacos:

1. Heat tortillas according to package instructions. (*see tip)
2. Assemble tacos with your favorite toppings.
3. Devour!

Helpful tools:

• Food processor
• Aluminum grill tray
• Metal or bamboo skewers. (*see tip)

Tips:

• If you are using bamboo skewers, be sure to soak them in water for 20 minutes prior to using to prevent them from burning on the grill.
• We like to grill tortillas 10-20 seconds per side or until heated through.

Are you excited to try this recipe? or have you already tried it? We'd love to hear from you in the comments!